On May 20, 2021, Will Ospreay had to vacate his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship due to a neck injury.
Ospreay was coming off a successful title defense against Shingo Takagi, but would be sidelined with the injury for at least four months, leading to him acting the belt.
Speaking to Wrestling Republic’s Eric Novak on the All Real Wrestling Podcast, Ospreay detailed his injury and being forced to vacate the championship.
“So, here’s what happened I wrestled Shingo and like to be honest with you I’ve been carrying around so many nagging injuries it was just to the point where I wasn’t healthy, I really wasn’t. I was like I’m very good at masking a lot of my injuries. I’m very good at just going out there, I’ll even say I’ve got a torn shoulder but I’m still going but people are like, 'oh he’s fine just keeps going he over exaggerates' and I got hurt with Shingo. It wasn’t just my neck; it was my back as well. If you look at when I do my match with Shingo, I do a shooting star press and it’s a little bit too far out and my back just pops. Honestly, I can remember the pain because it felt like somebody was like burning me. I feel like somebody was like lighting me on fire and I still had to do another 25 minutes after that. I didn’t realize how bad it was and then obviously COVID happened really bad in Japan, which postponed the Tokyo Dome show which was meant to be me and (Kazuchika) Okada," he said.
Ospreay continued, describing the pain he was going through with his injury and needing to get check out.
"Then, obviously, they had to move that back but I honestly was in agony. At points, I was getting out of bed and I couldn’t stand up properly and when I could stand up…I can’t explain it at all but it was just, I felt like I was in a car crash. Then I wanted to go get checked out properly and I wanted to do it for my own back and New Japan saw how bad I was so they said all right we’re going to send you home. So, I got sent home, had done all the tests and it was a very bad injury and I will not discuss how bad it was but they said it is fixable and we can get you back in four months," he recalled.
Ospreay returned to NJPW at NJPW Resurgence on August 14, declaring himself the "real" IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. He was back in the ring on August 21.
While Ospreay had to vacate his title, Jon Moxley kept his IWGP United States Championship, though he was unable to defend it for over a year due to the pandemic. The decision not to strip Moxley of his title did not sit well with Ospreay.
“I was like right four months game on my diet and once again I’m depressed, dude. I’m going from mad party stages to like hide how sad I am. I’m just partying hard but I’m also focusing so hard on my diet, my workouts, and everything along those lines with the first week I got the title taken off me. I was just like, 'guys I just need four months off,' that was it. There was that part of me that was angry because there’s Jon Moxley, and like I’ve got a lot to say about Jon Moxley, it’s like Moxley just has a year off actively competing but doesn’t defend the title once. Yet New Japan is like, 'Oh no he’s fine.' You’ve got the guy that’s actually broke his back for the company, carried on doing all that just needing four freaking months off, but you just take the title away from me, like F you. I was kind of angry, but once again I get it, you guys need a fighting champion. If you’re going to do it with Moxley then do it with the guy that’s always going to be here. Moxley is a part-timer, I’m here. Nothing against Moxley, I couldn’t care less about the guy. Just, come on man. I’m the guy that’s going to be here. I’m gonna be busting my ass. That’s why I made a statement of saying, 'No, until you notice me as champion, that is the interim champion, I ain’t coming back to Japan.' I’ll perform in America. I ain’t gonna do it anymore. That's me taking my stand and I showed up in Ireland with that belt, in the United Kingdom, in America, in Japan, I showed up everywhere with that belt, I actually made it a World Title where Shingo’s title could have been called a National Title at best," he said.
Ospreay faced Kauzchika Okada in the main event of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title. Okada walked away with the victory and the belt.
Ospreay and Moxley are set to clash at NJPW Windy City Riot on April 16.